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South Africa's Apartheid Inquest Ends,
But Controversy Over Past Still Lingers

By

Robert BlockStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Oct. 29, 1998 7:42 a.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The official investigation into South Africa's brutal history is scheduled to end Thursday much as it began: mired in controversy, but still tinged by hope that this imperfect effort to confront the brutal past might salve this racially divided land.

After more than two years of investigating apartheid-era crimes, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission will wrap up its efforts when its chairman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, hands over five volumes of findings to President Nelson Mandela.